To Kill A Mockingbird Seminar Reflection
At the beginning of the seminar, about five minutes in, we all realized that out of twelve of us, eleven of us had responded to a question focusing on whether the book should be banned or not. We all had the same view that no, the book should not be banned from highschool reading lists. Our conversation focused mostly on the racism in the text, but also touched on sexism, foul language, and the rape one character is accused of in the book. We talked about how these topics could be seen as too dark for highschool students, but didn’t agree with that view. One point I brought up during the seminar was the fact that we learn about sexism, sexual assault, racism, and so much more through social media, tv shows, movies, books, and even in school, so it doesn't make sense to ban a book because it has these things.
I thought that it was interesting how all of the people in the seminar were talking about racism. They all talked about racism like they had experienced it, and when we were looking through the book I found a quote that was about turtles, Boo Radley(one of the characters), and racism all at the same time. In chapter 1, page 20, there is a conversation between Scout, Dill, and Jem about trying to get Boo Radley out of his house.
"'Lemme think a minute.... it's like getting a turtle to come out...'
'How's that?' asked Dill
'Strike a match under him.'
I told Jem that if he set fire to the Radley house I was going to tell Atticus on him.
Dill said striking a match under a turtle was hateful.
'Ain't hateful, just persuades him--'s not like you'd chunk him in the fire,' Jem growled.
'How do you know a match don't hurt him?'
'Turtles can't feel, stupid,' said Jem.
'Were you ever a turtle, huh?'"
I brought this up in the seminar because were were essentially a group of white people talking about something we couldn't really talk about as if we had experience being on the other side of racism. The last 3 lines of the text are a perfect example of how we don't truly know how other people feel. We can't relate to someone, or try to solve a problem if we don't know how to fix it because we haven't been through what others have.
Being prepared for the seminar was difficult for me because although I read the book, I missed parts because I was reading without thinking about any of it. The book was boring to me most of the time because of the length, but I think if it was shorter, it would have been more interesting. In the seminar a lot of the people agreed the book being too long for the ending. I didn't have as many annotations as I needed to do the seminar well, so the next novel I need to annotate the book as I read. Next book we read I also need to plan out the reading amounts more so I don't fall behind.
I don't know how I feel about the book in general. I think that the lessons in the book are important, but if I had the choice to read this book I wouldn't. It's a pretty long book for the ending, and I think that the lessons could be learned from different books. Do I think the book should be banned? No, but I don't think that it is a piece of literature that is a must-read.
I thought that it was interesting how all of the people in the seminar were talking about racism. They all talked about racism like they had experienced it, and when we were looking through the book I found a quote that was about turtles, Boo Radley(one of the characters), and racism all at the same time. In chapter 1, page 20, there is a conversation between Scout, Dill, and Jem about trying to get Boo Radley out of his house.
"'Lemme think a minute.... it's like getting a turtle to come out...'
'How's that?' asked Dill
'Strike a match under him.'
I told Jem that if he set fire to the Radley house I was going to tell Atticus on him.
Dill said striking a match under a turtle was hateful.
'Ain't hateful, just persuades him--'s not like you'd chunk him in the fire,' Jem growled.
'How do you know a match don't hurt him?'
'Turtles can't feel, stupid,' said Jem.
'Were you ever a turtle, huh?'"
I brought this up in the seminar because were were essentially a group of white people talking about something we couldn't really talk about as if we had experience being on the other side of racism. The last 3 lines of the text are a perfect example of how we don't truly know how other people feel. We can't relate to someone, or try to solve a problem if we don't know how to fix it because we haven't been through what others have.
Being prepared for the seminar was difficult for me because although I read the book, I missed parts because I was reading without thinking about any of it. The book was boring to me most of the time because of the length, but I think if it was shorter, it would have been more interesting. In the seminar a lot of the people agreed the book being too long for the ending. I didn't have as many annotations as I needed to do the seminar well, so the next novel I need to annotate the book as I read. Next book we read I also need to plan out the reading amounts more so I don't fall behind.
I don't know how I feel about the book in general. I think that the lessons in the book are important, but if I had the choice to read this book I wouldn't. It's a pretty long book for the ending, and I think that the lessons could be learned from different books. Do I think the book should be banned? No, but I don't think that it is a piece of literature that is a must-read.